Nordrhein-Westfalen Map

North Rhine-Westphalia

Located in the western part of the country, North Rhine-Westphalia is Germany’s fourth largest area by population. Comprising a population of some 18 million inhabitants, North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populated state of the country. Some of the cities in the state have come to be quite well known in other across the globe. The state comprises four out of ten biggest cities in Germany. These four are: Cologne, the largest city in the state; Düsseldorf, the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, Dortmund, and Essen.

Though history of the region of the state can be traced back to ancient times but the state of North Rhine-Westphalia came into existence in 1946. The former parts of Prussia – North Rhine and Westphalia, and the Free State of Lippe were merged into a single entity to create the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The North Rhine-Westphalia is blessed with a spectacular landscape and offers numerous attractions to visitors which range from sightseeing and river cruise to shopping and eating out. Some places that are worth visiting in North Rhine-Westphalia include the Botanical Gardens Flora in Cologne, Rhine Tower in Dusseldorf, Treasury of Aachen Cathedral in Aachen, Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne just to name a few. You can also visit the Cologne Christmas Market, which will be held from November 21, 2016, to December 23, 2016. People visit the market from all over the world to have a glimpse at the various high quality art products on display and to gorge on the culinary delights.

Getting to North Rhine-Westphalia is quite easy as there are a number of airports here that provide connectivity to prominent cities in Germany as well as around the world. Some of the prominent airports in the state include Dusseldorf Airport, Cologne-Bonn Airport, and Dortmund Airport. The state is also well-connected by rail as many ICE high speed lines run through it. You can also travel by bus as there are many international bus lines that have stops in many prominent cities of North Rhine-Westphalia.

 

Districts in Nordrhein-Westfalen

District	Abbreviation	Capital	Population	Area(km.²)
Aachen	AC	Aachen	539,515	707
Bielefeld	BE	Bielefeld	326,870	258
Bochum	BC	Bochum	362,286	146
Bonn	BN	Bonn	305,765	141
Borken	BR	Borken	363,754	1,419
Bottrop	BT	Bottrop	117,311	101
Coesfeld	CE	Coesfeld	215,269	1,110
Dortmund	DD	Dortmund	571,143	281
Duisburg	DI	Duisburg	488,468	233
Düren	DR	Düren	258,761	941
Düsseldorf	DS	Düsseldorf	586,291	217
Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis	ER	Schwelm	326,050	408
Essen	ES	Essen	566,201	210
Euskirchen	EK	Euskirchen	187,939	1,249
Gelsenkirchen	GL	Gelsenkirchen	258,766	105
Gütersloh	GT	Gütersloh	350,419	967
Hagen	HG	Hagen	187,944	160
Hamm	HM	Hamm	176,037	226
Heinsberg	HI	Heinsberg	248,161	628
Herford	HF	Herford	250,704	450
Herne	HR	Herne	155,160	51
Hochsauerlandkreis	HC	Meschede	266,511	1,959
Höxter	HX	Höxter	145,679	1,200
Kleve	KV	Kleve	300,990	1,232
Köln	KO	Köln	1,005,775	405
Krefeld	KF	Krefeld	222,247	138
Leverkusen	LV	Leverkusen	158,984	79
Lippe	LP	Detmold	348,681	1,246
Märkischer Kreis	MK	Lüdenscheid	423,818	1,059
Mettmann	MT	Mettmann	477,777	407
Minden-Lübbecke	ML	Minden	312,169	1,152
Mönchengladbach	MG	Mönchengladbach	255,188	170
Mülheim an der Ruhr	MR	Mülheim an der Ruhr	166,865	91
Münster	MN	Münster	289,576	303
Oberbergischer Kreis	OK	Gummersbach	273,011	919
Oberhausen	OE	Oberhausen	210,215	77
Olpe	OP	Olpe	136,490	711
Paderborn	PD	Paderborn	294,602	1,246
Recklinghausen	RC	Recklinghausen	619,382	760
Remscheid	RM	Remscheid	110,708	75
Rhein-Erft-Kreis	RE	Bergheim	451,515	705
Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis	RB	Bergisch Gladbach	278,182	437
Rhein-Kreis Neuss	RN	Neuss	437,393	576
Rhein-Sieg-Kreis	RS	Siegburg	578,252	1,153
Siegen-Wittgenstein	SW	Siegen	276,834	1,132
Soest	SO	Soest	296,875	1,328
Solingen	SL	Solingen	155,265	90
Steinfurt	SF	Steinfurt	433,660	1,793
Unna	UN	Unna	396,060	543
Viersen	VE	Viersen	296,176	563
Warendorf	WR	Warendorf	273,477	1,317
Wesel	WS	Wesel	460,420	1,043
Wuppertal	WP	Wuppertal	342,661	168